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Good day, denizens of OC.net! Per our tradition, the forum will shut down for Clean Monday, beginning around 9pm Sunday evening (2/18) and ending around 9pm Monday evening (2/19). In the spirit of the coming Forgiveness Sunday, I ask you to forgive me for the sins I have committed against you. At the end of Great and Holy Week, the Forum will also shut down for Holy Friday and Holy Saturday (times TBA).

Answer honestly, how generous do you believe that you are with your money? Do you give your money to charity, specific causes/people and/or your Church? If so, how much do you give and are you happy with it? The reason I ask is because I have been reading St. John Chrysostom's homilies lately where the good Saint constantly urges people to give charitably to the poor, and it led to my own self-examination.

I try to be as generous as possible with my money. I believe that poverty is the worst evil in the world and that every other act of wickedness is rooted in poverty. People steal things because of their poverty, they commit rape because the sexual pleasure alleviates their pain from the poverty, people develop addictions because of their poverty that causes them so much anguish. People die because they get involved in crime, violent drug dealings and/or other dangerous activities precisely because of their poverty. I know this first hand, and nothing saddens my heart more than when I see a poor person, especially another poor Mexican. I make about $200 a month, and of that I usually donate $50-$80 of it to either my Church, random homeless people I see in front of stores and/or to my jar of $370 which I plan to donate to a good cause at the end of the year.

How much are we supposed to give? And how are we supposed to give it? Is it more important to give my money to my Church or to the poor? I have noticed an odd paradox when it comes to money and donations. I've noticed that the more money I donate, the more money I somehow end up receiving from God in the long run. For example, one time I donated $10 even though I really needed it, and the very next day, God unexpectedly blessed me with $20. Yet, when I make more money, I find that it becomes harder to be charitable and give, because the greed factor becomes stronger within me when I have more money. This is why I usually try to make my donations right when I receive my money, before the greed factor comes in and starts to tempt me.

Answer honestly, how generous do you believe that you are with your money? Do you give your money to charity, specific causes/people and/or your Church? If so, how much do you give and are you happy with it? The reason I ask is because I have been reading St. John Chrysostom's homilies lately where the good Saint constantly urges people to give charitably to the poor, and it led to my own self-examination.

I try to be as generous as possible with my money. I believe that poverty is the worst evil in the world and that every other act of wickedness is rooted in poverty. People steal things because of their poverty, they commit rape because the sexual pleasure alleviates their pain from the poverty, people develop addictions because of their poverty that causes them so much anguish. People die because they get involved in crime, violent drug dealings and/or other dangerous activities precisely because of their poverty. I know this first hand, and nothing saddens my heart more than when I see a poor person, especially another poor Mexican. I make about $200 a month, and of that I usually donate $50-$80 of it to either my Church, random homeless people I see in front of stores and/or to my jar of $370 which I plan to donate to a good cause at the end of the year.

How much are we supposed to give? And how are we supposed to give it? Is it more important to give my money to my Church or to the poor? I have noticed an odd paradox when it comes to money and donations. I've noticed that the more money I donate, the more money I somehow end up receiving from God in the long run. For example, one time I donated $10 even though I really needed it, and the very next day, God unexpectedly blessed me with $20. Yet, when I make more money, I find that it becomes harder to be charitable and give, because the greed factor becomes stronger within me when I have more money. This is why I usually try to make my donations right when I receive my money, before the greed factor comes in and starts to tempt me.

I do give to my Church and to other organizations, but I never feel that it is enough.

While poverty is a sad and unfortunate thing, your conclusions are not necessarily true. There are many people who are poor who don't commit crimes.

Logged

"If but ten of us lead a holy life, we shall kindle a fire which shall light up the entire city."

I believe that poverty is the worst evil in the world and that every other act of wickedness is rooted in poverty. People steal things because of their poverty, they commit rape because the sexual pleasure alleviates their pain from the poverty, people develop addictions because of their poverty that causes them so much anguish. People die because they get involved in crime, violent drug dealings and/or other dangerous activities precisely because of their poverty

Logged

"I confidently affirm that whoever calls himself Universal Bishop is the precursor of Antichrist"Gregory the Great

"Never, never, never let anyone tell you that, in order to be Orthodox, you must also be eastern." St. John Maximovitch, The Wonderworker

Not generous enough. And I won't ever be generous enough until, God willingl, I reach heaven.

Logged

"For, by its immensity, the divine substance surpasses every form that our intellect reaches. Thus we are unable to apprehend it by knowing what it is. Yet we are able to have some knowledge of it by knowing what it is not." - St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra gentiles, I, 14.